23.1 Globalization Support Architecture

Globalization support architecture consists of two parts:

23.1.1 Language-Independent Functions

Language-independent functions handle manipulation of data in an appropriate manner, depending on the language and territory of the runtime operator. Data is automatically formatted according to local date and time conventions.

23.1.2 Language-Dependent Data

With language-dependent data, you can isolate your data. This enables your application to deal only with translating strings that are unique to your application.

Because the language-dependent data is separate from the code, the operation of globalization support functions is governed by the data supplied at runtime. New languages can be added and language-specific application characteristics can be altered without requiring code changes. This architecture also enables language-dependent features to be specified for each session.